Method for selling content over a network

ABSTRACT

A method to generate revenue from supplied content is provided. Content is provided to a consumer via a network by providing a content service that allows the consumer to select and retrieve content as a package together with a clearing of the selectable content to an operator used by the consumer to select and retrieve the content via the network. Any content selected by the consumer is supplied directly to the consumer via the operator. The operator is charged for the supplied content.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method for selling content items,such as entertainment or information, in audio, text, and/or audiovisualformat. The content items, generally referred to as “content,” areprovided by one or more content providers to at least one consumer via anetwork.

Documents cited in this text are incorporated herein by reference.Documents incorporated by reference into this text are not admitted tobe prior art. Furthermore, authors or inventors on documentsincorporated by reference into this text are not to be considered to be“another” or “others” as to the present inventive entity and vice versa,especially where one or more authors or inventors on documentsincorporated by reference into this text are an inventor or inventorsnamed in the present inventive entity.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Networks are ubiquitous in modem society. For example, telephonenetworks, computer networks and cellular networks are integral aspectsof day-to-day living. Although these networks were once separateentities, they now interact with each other to allow for the transportof data to any connected device.

These networks also provide people with access to data: data thatinforms and entertains. Typically, once information and entertainmentitems that suit the needs, wants and tastes of a consumer aredetermined, access of the content of these items is performed. Theconsumer, however, usually has to pay the content provider for thesupplied content.

A Personal Media System (PMA) has been developed. The PMA is anentertainment product offering music service, e.g., personalizedchannel, pre-defined channel, pre-defined playlist, consumer-definedplaylist, music selection feature, and related content like ringtones,news service, and/or community service in audio, audiovisual and textform. The PMA service is offered to end-consumers over any data network,e.g., mobile telephone network, broadband internet, and/or digitalinteractive TV.

The PMA service is available on any capable device, e.g., mobile phone,personal computer, home entertainment product, e.g., TV set, HiFistereo, game console, and/or mobile entertainment product, e.g. NetworkWalkman by Sony Corporation. The service offered includes, for example,a streaming service, wherein the consumer does not own the content, anda download service, wherein the consumer does own or license thecontent.

Therefore, a sophisticated structure to supply content to consumers isprovided by the PMA. However, since charging for such services istypically made via credit card, or specially arranged accounts that needto be filled by the consumers, no easy and convenient method isavailable for the service provider (which generally might also be thecontent provider) to charge for the supplied content. A need exists,therefore, for such a charging method.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is the object of the present invention, therefore, to provide analternative method to sell content, which is provided by one or morecontent providers, to at least one consumer via a network.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a method forgenerating revenue from supplied content is provided, wherein saidcontent provided by at least one content provider to a consumer via anetwork, having the steps of providing a content service that allows theconsumer to select and retrieve content together with a clearing of theselectable content to an operator used by the consumer to select andretrieve the content via the network, directly supplying contentselected by the consumer to the consumer via the operator, and chargingthe operator for the supplied content. The content service is preferablyprovided as an automated service that includes a content database ofcontent available on a content server and the possibility to access thiscontent database for the purpose of selection of content from thecontent database. The content service might support the automatedselection of content based on user profiles. The content service and thecontent database are preferably provided on a server, such as aninternet server and/or a broadcast server and/or an internal or externalserver that can directly be dialed up. The direct supply of the contentfrom the content server to the consumer is preferably performed via thesame connection via which the content is selected, but also anotherconnection might be used as long as the same operator is used (that alsoincludes a sub-operator used by the operator to provide e.g. anothertype of connection, e.g. a broadband connection might be used forreceiving the content while a telephone connection is used to select thecontent). Also, the content database and the content server might beprovided by different units, e.g. one offering the selection service andthe other supplying the selected content. The charging of the operatoris preferably performed in an on-line manner, but can also be performedconventionally, e.g. as a collected bill for a certain time period.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, themethod for selling content further includes the step of licensingcontent from the at least one content provider to provide selectablecontent that can be offered within said content service.

In accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention, themethod for selling content also includes the steps of generating acontent playlist for the consumer, and/or providing individual contentselections by the consumer for allowing the consumer to select contentwithin said content service.

In accordance with a still further embodiment of the present invention,the method of selling content further includes the step of providing acontent access client that allows for the usage of the content serviceby the consumer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In this specification and the accompanying drawings, some preferredembodiments of the invention are shown and described, and variousalternatives and modifications thereof are suggested. It is to beunderstood that these are not intended to be exhaustive and that manyother changes and modifications can be made within the scope of theinvention.

The suggestions herein are selected and included for purposes ofillustration in order that others skilled in the art will more fullyunderstand the invention and the principles thereof and will thus beable to modify it in a variety of forms, each as may be best suited tothe conditions of a particular use.

In the following detailed description, reference will be made to theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows an example of a general business model to sell content,which is provided by one or more content providers, to at least oneconsumer via a network according to a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention,

FIG. 2 shows a first exemplary revenue model of the general businessmodel shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 shows a second exemplary revenue model of the general businessmodel shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 shows an example of a content access device according to thepresent invention,

FIG. 5 shows a business flow chart of the preferred embodiment accordingto the present invention, and

FIG. 6 shows a technical flow chart of the preferred embodimentaccording to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THEINVENTION

A clearing of the selectable content according to the present inventionincludes preferably providing the content so that the consumer canretrieve the content legally, e.g., so that the user need not performany other action besides the retrieval to be able to legally use thecontent.

A direct supply of any content selected by the consumer to the consumervia the operator includes preferably supplying the content without theoperator having to perform any processing steps other than the provisionof a channel for the communication between consumer and content serviceprovider. In other words, the operator exploits the content supply ofthe party that offers the content, e.g., a content provider or a contentservice provider. Supplied content in the sense of the invention ispreferably content that is retrieved by the consumer.

Further, in addition to charging the operator for the supplied content,preferably the operator is also charged for the content service itself,e.g., the possibility to offer content and to supply the content in away convenient for the user, which content service is exploited by theoperator. This content service charge might be included in the chargefor the content, e.g. a particular share thereof, or might be chargedextra.

Up to now, e.g., in existing content supply mechanisms, the operatornormally charges the consumer only for using the operator's services toretrieve the content, but not for the content itself. By the directsupply of the content to the consumer via the operator, but charging theoperator for the supplied content, and therewith in fact ‘licensing’ or‘sub-licensing’ the supplied content to the operator, the methodaccording to the present invention has the advantage that the contentprovider (or a service provider arranged between one or more contentproviders and one or more operators, as will be set-out below in moredetail) allows the operator to additionally also charge for the contentitself. The content provider or service provider need not charge everyconsumer for the supplied content, but must only set up a channel ofpayment to the respective operators. In turn, no additional channel forpayment of the retrieved content has to be set up by the consumer,thereby making content access more convenient for the consumer.

Further, the operator also has the advantage of being able to decide onthe prices for the delivered content and/or to offer the content as anadditional value for his services, e.g., several free or package-chargedcontent items that might be supplied to the consumer. Furthermore, theoperator can offer the content service without any other tasks besidesthe provision of a channel and charging for the channel and additionallyfor the content. In other words, since the consumer is allowed to selectthe service by other than the operator, namely a content provider or acontent service provider, and the content is provided from this instancedirectly to the customer, the operator gets a turnkey solution to supplycontent for providing the actual customer charging functionality (asset-out above, e.g., either as a direct charge for supplied content oras an added value). This turnkey solution might be described aslicensing the content and a content service, e.g., a serverinfrastructure and a corresponding client for the customer, to anoperator.

Generally, the operator that is used by the customer to retrieve thecontent and that, therefore, pays for the content, is allowed to chargeeach individual consumer for the retrieved content. This may beaccomplished by indicating to the operator that a ‘chargeable content’is currently supplied to a consumer via the operator, or by assigningthe supplied content to a secure identifier for a particular connectionthat was set-up by the operator, which identifier might be designed sothat the consumer is anonymous for the content supplier or servicesupplier, but not for the operator, and then supplying a list thatcomprises these identifiers and the respectively corresponding charge tothe operator.

The method according to the present invention preferably comprises thestep of licensing content from the at least one content provider toprovide selectable content that can be offered within said contentservice.

This step provides for a content service provider, e.g. theabove-described PMA service provider, to offer the content that islicensed from a content provider to a consumer via an operator used bythe consumer. The content service provider need not generate its owncontent for offering the content service to allow for the selection ofcertain content by the consumer, but only needs license contracts withthe content providers and—of course—an access to the licensed orlicensable content. Further, the content service provider need notinstall a contract and payment scheme with consumers of his service, butneeds only to have contracts with the respective operators his consumersuse to retrieve the content. The present invention is in particulardesigned for content service providers that serve as a linkage betweenseveral content providers and—via operators—consumers.

Content service providers working according to the present inventionmight then tailor the licensed content to particular individualconsumers or groups of consumers, provide the content directly to theindividual consumers or groups of consumers via respective operatorsused by the consumers, and sell such content via the respectiveoperators when the content is accessed by a consumer, e.g. charge therespective operators for the supplied content. Further, the operatorscan exploit the content service, e.g. the consumer does not realize thata content service provider is in fact offering the content service, butthinks that the operator performs the content service, which in factbuys the whole service and performs the billing to the user.

The method according to the present invention preferably furthercomprises the steps of generating a content playlist for the consumer,and/or allow for individual content selections by the consumer forallowing the consumer to select content within said content service.

With a content playlist that can be communicated to a consumer and/orsupplied in a form of direct content retrieval to the consumer, acontent service provider can offer a convenient way for a consumer toretrieve the content. The playlist might be tailored to the consumer,e.g. based on a user or consumer profile that is managed by the contentservice provider based on like/dislike indications for particularcontent items of the playlist, e.g, which is dynamically managed.

As indicated above, in the method according to the present inventionpreferably the operator used by the consumer is allowed to charge theconsumer for the retrieved content. However, as also indicated above,the operator need not necessarily charge the consumer for this content.The decision whether or not to charge is completely in the hand of theoperator. The operator pays, for example, a license fee for the suppliedcontent (that preferably includes a share for the content serviceprovision) and therewith it can be secured that the content providerobtains payment for the supplied content. The content provider mightreceive this payment either directly from the operator in case thecontent provider offers the content service (and therewith combines thefunctionality of content provider and content service provider), or thecontent provider might receive this payment via the content serviceprovider in case the operator exploits the content service from thecontent service provider.

In the method according to the present invention, the consumerpreferably subscribes to a content service to be able to retrievecontent. Therefore, preferably the operator is allowed to offer thecontent service to consumers that subscribe to the content service withthe operator. Such a subscription can serve for billing purposes whenused by the operator the consumer uses. Further, such a subscriptionmight also serve as an indicator to generate a new consumer profile forthe content service provider.

In case of a subscription to a content service, in the method accordingto the present invention, the consumer preferably has the ability toreceive a predetermined amount of content with payment of a regularsubscription fee. Therefore, preferably the operator is allowed to offersaid content service and the ability to receive a predetermined amountof content within said content service to the consumer for the paymentof a regular subscription fee.

Alternatively or additionally, in the method according to the presentinvention, the consumer preferably has the ability to receive contentwith payment of a content-based fee, e.g. pay per retrieved contentitem. Therefore, alternatively or additionally, the operator is allowedto offer said content service and the ability to receive content withinsaid content service to the consumer for the payment of a content basedfee.

In the method according to the present invention, preferably the contentis provided as a streaming and/or download service to the consumer. Inthis case, according to the present invention preferably the at leastone content provider receives royalties based on consumed time in caseof a streaming content consumption by the consumer, and/or the at leastone content provider receives royalties based on consumed content itemsin case of a download content consumption by the consumer. As statedabove, the content provider might receive these royalties eitherdirectly from the operator or via a content service provider.

In the method according to the present invention the content ispreferably provided to the consumer as a telephone service, furtherpreferably via a mobile telephone network, and/or internet service,further preferably via broadband internet, and/or broadcast service,further preferably via digital interactive TV.

In other words, the operator used by the consumer to exploit the contentservice is preferably a telephone operator, and/or internet provider,and/or broadcaster.

In the method according to the present invention the content ispreferably audio content, in particular music content, and/or textcontent, in particular news content, and/or audiovisual content, inparticular music content, e.g. music clips, or news content or moviecontent.

The method according to the present invention alternatively oradditionally preferably comprises the steps of providing a contentaccess client to the at least one consumer. This step provides for areliable and/or secure communication between consumer and contentservice provider (or in case of a direct marketing of the content alsobetween consumer and content provider), since the content access clientis tailored to the content selection and provision system. Such acontent access client may then allow the consumer to select playlistsaccording to current mood and to refine his/her consumer profile. Such acontent access client might also serve to prevent the request of contentthat cannot be delivered, since it is e.g. not licensed from aparticular content provider.

According to the present invention, an operator is allowed to offer thecontent service without having to supply any of the content relatedservices on his own, but only by providing the charging functionality,e.g. by paying for the supplied content (and preferably also for thepossibility to offer content) and being allowed to charge the consumerfor his/her retrieved content. In other words, the present inventionprovides for an operator to exploit the content service.

It is understood that all of the above single features may bearbitrarily combined to form respective preferred embodiments accordingto the present invention.

As indicated above, content refers to any information and entertainmentitem in one media format or the combination of multiple media formats.Media Formats may be audio, video, images, pictures and text. One pieceof content, e.g. one song, one news article, one movie, etc., isgenerally referred to as an “item.”

The content itself is preferably provided based on existing technologyi.e. hardware and/or software, that is e.g. set-up like today's servicesfor the download of ring-tones for mobile phones or for the download orstreaming of songs via the Internet. This content provision ispreferably performed by the service provider and gets exploited by theoperator. Also, the consumer device is preferably based on existingtechnology, like a mobile phone, personal digital assistant, smartphone,personal computer, home entertainment product, e.g., TV set, HiFistereo, game console, and/or mobile entertainment product, e.g. NetworkWalkman by Sony Corporation. The respectively used device only needs acontent access client that is implemented in known technology andadapted to the service according to the present invention. The contentaccess client might be realized in hardware, e.g. as a programmed orhard-wired chip or ASIC, or in software or firmware to be loaded ontothe consumer device. The content access client also provides afunctionality that enables the operator to charge the consumer based onaccessed content and/or based on a subscription fee. Further, thisfunctionality enables the operator to pass on at least a part of thedata provided by the content access client, namely that data relevantfor the content access, e.g. which downloads have been made by theconsumer and/or which streams have been received by the consumer, to theservice provider together with and/or in connection with the payment forthat streamed and/or downloaded content so that the service provider candetermine whether or not appropriate payments are received for allsupplied content. It is preferred that the service provider receives noinformation in respect to the consumer that finally received thecontent.

Turning to the figures, FIG. 1 shows an exemplary mode for carrying outthe invention by way of a business model for the PMA service provider.As shown in this example, the PMA service provider 1 provides for anend-consumer service targeting the mass market, e.g. for music and news.Involved in establishing this end-consumer service are a contentprovider 2, the PMA service provider 1, and at least one mobile operator3, as well as at least one consumer 4.

The PMA service provider 1 licenses content from the content provider 2,e.g. as a non-exclusive license, implements and operates a PMA platform,e.g., a server that allows the selection of content by a consumer 4 andorganizes the supplying of selected content to the consumer 4,implements and provides a PMA client to the consumer 4, e.g. an accessto the PMA platform, licenses the PMA concept, e.g. the possibility ofselected content, to the mobile operator 3, e.g. again as anon-exclusive license.

The mobile operator 3 provides infrastructure to transfer the service(including the content) over (mobile) networks to the end-consumer 4,e.g. his/her (mobile) content retrieval device, and offers consumerservice, e.g. has pricing authority and performs billing.

Of course, also more than one content provider 2 might be involved aswell as at least one alternative or other type of operator 3. Forexample, the content of one or more content providers 2 for music, oneor more content providers 2 for news, might be offered to theconsumer(s) 4 via one or more mobile operators 3, one or moreconventional wire based phone operators 3, one or more broadcasters 3,one or more internet providers 3.

The above principles apply to these other content providers 2 and othertypes of operators 3 as well. Thus, the present invention provides forthe access of predetermined content from a content provider 2, offersthis content to consumer(s) 4 via at least one operator 3, charges theoperator(s) 3 for content that gets selected and supplied, and payslicense fees for this content to the content provider(s) 2. The chargingof the consumer(s) 4 for retrieved content is completely in the hand ofthe operator(s) 3. Therewith, the effort to charge the consumer(s) 4from the side of the service provider 1 is reduced.

FIG. 2 shows a first exemplary revenue model of the general businessmodel shown in FIG. 1, namely a time-based subscription model that isbasically characterized by the features that a consumer 4 subscribes tothe service and a monthly subscription price 5 includes a certain numberof minutes consuming audio and/or audiovisual content. Royalties to thecontent provider are based on consumed audio and/or audiovisualcontent/second. An example would be that a mobile operator 3 provides aservice of 300 minutes of audio or audiovisual content/month forconsumer price: $10/month, and 200 minutes have been consumed by theconsumer 4.

The price for this service that has to be paid by the operator to theservice provider, e.g., the price paid by operator 6, might be 50%(fixed, subject to agreement between PMA service provider 1 and mobileoperator 3), e.g., $5/month. Therewith, the (mobile) operator 3 has arevenue 7 of 50%, here $5/month from the consumer 4.

The respective content provider 2 receives the royalties for thesupplied content from the service provider 1. In the described firstexample the following assumptions are made: 2 content providers (A, B)2A, 2B, from provider A, 60 minutes of music streamed, from provider B40 minutes of music streamed, price for content from provider A:$0.01/minute, and price for content from provider B: $0.02 /minute.

Therefore, the following revenues are made by the content providers 2A,2B: Content Provider A: $1.20, and Content Provider B: $1.60. Therewith,the PMA service provider 1 has a revenue 8 of $2.20.

It is to be noted that the service provider 1 pays royalties to thecontent providers 2A, 2B, e.g, for purposes of copyright, based on timebased consumption of audio/audiovisual content consumed.

FIG. 3 shows a second exemplary revenue model of the general businessmodel shown in FIG. 1, namely an item-based subscription model. Anexample would be that a mobile operator 3 provides a service of 20downloads of music/month, and 5 ringtones, at a consumer price of, forexample, $50/month, and a consumer 4 downloaded 25 songs and 5ringtones. The price for this service that has to be paid by theoperator 3 to the service provider 1 might be 50% (fixed, subject toagreement between PMA service provider 1 and mobile operator 3), e.g.,$25/month. Therewith, the (mobile) operator 3 has a revenue 7 of 50%,here $25/month from the consumer 4.

The respective content provider 2 receives the royalties from theservice provider 1. In the described second example the followingassumptions are made: 2 Content Providers (A, B) 2A, 2B, from providerA, music downloads are possible, provider B, provides ringtones, pricefor content from provider A: $0.80/song, and price for content fromprovider B: $0.5/ringtone.

Therefore, the following revenues are made by the content providers 2A,2B: Content Provider A: $20, and Content Provider B: $2.50.Therewith,the PMA service provider 1 has a revenue 8 of $2.50.

It is to be noted that the service provider 1 pays royalties to thecontent providers 2, e.g. for purposes of copyright, based on downloadeditems.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a content access device 9 according to thepresent invention, which is used by the consumer 4 to select andretrieve content, e.g. to use the consumer service offered by the PMAservice provider 1 via the mobile operator 3, who exploits this service.The shown content access device 9 embodies a content access client thatallows for selection and reception of content, e.g. a connection to aserver of the PMA service provider 1. This content access client mightbe realized in hardware or software. The hardware realization mightcomprise a programmed or hard-wired chip or ASIC. The softwarerealization might comprise a (downloadable) program or firmware to beloaded onto the consumer device. Besides the generally known technicalfunctionality to access content, the content access client provides theabove-indicated technical functionality to enable an appropriatecharging according to the present invention. The content access device 9or the content access client might be stand-alone units and/orintegrated into another device, e.g. a mobile phone or a PDA.

The shown exemplary content access device 9 comprises an antenna 10, acontent viewer 11, and a speaker 12. Further, the content access device9 comprises controls (not shown) to operate the content access device 9.

The antenna 10 is used to provide content selection information to thePMA service provider 1 via a wireless network that is operated by themobile operator 3 and to pass on identity information about theconsumer, e.g. the used telephone number, and information in respect tothe received content to the mobile operator 3. Further, the antenna 9 isalso used to receive the content from the PMA service provider 1 via thewireless network that is operated by the mobile operator 3.

The content viewer 11 indicates a display and “media player” capable ofplaying text, audio, and audiovisual content. The audio content andaudio part of the audiovisual content is reproduced via the speaker 12.The player controls (not shown) may be, for example, “keys” on thecontent access device and/or “buttons” within the content viewer, e.g.manipulated by way of a touch screen, or other modes of selection.

FIG. 5 shows a business flow chart of the method for generating revenuefor supplied content according to the present invention. In a first stepS1 the content provider 2, which is also the content licensor in thispreferred embodiment, clears the content that is to be licensed andlicenses the cleared content to the PMA service provider 1. Depending onthe ownership of the content, the content provider and the contentlicensor might be different units. In a following second step S2 the PMAservice provider 1 provides the content service, i.e. the offering ofdownloadable content and/or content streams. The content service isprovided to a consumer 4 via an operator 3 who exploits this contentservice. Therefore, the PMA service provider 1 also performs a chargingof the operator 3 in the second step S2. Thereafter the operator 3offers the exploited content service to the consumer 4 and charges theconsumer 4 in a third step S3. In a following fourth step S4 theconsumer 4 effects a payment of a subscription fee and/or a contentbased fee to the operator 3. The operator 3 then forwards a part of thereceived payment to the PMA service provider 1 as revenue for the PMAservice provider 1 in a following fifth step SS. Of course,alternatively the revenue can also be paid by the operator 3 to the PMAservice provider 1 in advance of receiving the payment of thesubscription fee and/or the content based fee from the customer 4.Following, the PMA service provider 1 pays royalties for steamingcontent and/or royalties for downloads to the content provider 2, whoequals to the content licensor in this case, in a last sixth step S6.

FIG. 6 shows a technical flow chart of the method for generating revenuefor supplied content according to the present invention. This technicalflowchart depicts the content supply route from the server of the PMAservice provider 1. It is shown that in this exemplary case audiocontent and/or text content and/or audio/video content is available onthe server of the PMA service provider 1. The server of the PMA serviceprovider 1 is connected to the content access client of a consumer 4 viaa network of the operator 3, here a telephone network and/or theinternet and/or a broadcast service. The content access client of theconsumer 4 selects content that the user wants to access (or the userselects content that she/he wants to access via the content accessclient), e.g. by way of a content playlist that is preferablyautomatically generated according to a user profile, via the networkfrom the content service that is provided by the PMA service provider(see second and third steps S2 and S3 above). After such a selection theserver of the PMA service provider 1 supplies the content via thenetwork of the operator 3 in a streaming and/or download mode to thecontent access client of the consumer 4 in a content supply step S7.

Various modifications and variations of the described devices andmethods of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Althoughthe invention has been described in connection with specific preferredembodiments, it should be understood that the invention as claimedshould not be unduly limited to such specific embodiments. Indeed,various modifications of the described modes for carrying out theinvention which are obvious to those skilled in the art or in relatedfields are intended to be within the scope of the following claims.

1. A method performed by a content service for generating revenue fromsupplied content without establishing contracts with, or receivingpayments from, a plurality of consumers, the content service linking oneor more content providers to one or more network operators that use thecontent service to supply content to the consumers via one or morerespective networks, the method comprising: using at least one computerto perform the steps of: licensing the content from the one or morecontent providers; allowing the consumers to select content availablefrom the one or more content providers; directly supplying the selectedcontent to the consumers via the one or more respective networks of theone or more network operators without the content service or the one ormore content providers charging the consumers; charging the one or morenetwork operators for the content supplied to the consumers through theone or more respective networks; and forwarding a portion of paymentsreceived from the one or more network operators for the supplied contentto the content provider that licensed the supplied content to thecontent service.
 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprisingthe steps of: automatically generating a content playlist comprisingrecommended content items for a consumer; and allowing the consumer toselect content from the content playlist.
 3. The method of claim 2,further comprising: tailoring the content playlist to the consumer basedon a profile of the consumer, the profile being managed by the contentservice based on like/dislike indications by the consumer for particularcontent items in the content playlist.
 4. The method according to claim1, wherein at least one network operator used by a consumer charges theconsumer for the retrieved content.
 5. The method according to claim 4,wherein at least one network operator offers the content service toconsumers that subscribe to the content service with the networkoperator.
 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein at least onenetwork operator offers said content service and is allowed to send apredetermined amount of content within said content service to aconsumer for a payment of a regular subscription fee.
 7. The methodaccording to claim 5, wherein at least one network operator offers saidcontent service and is allowed to send content within said contentservice to a consumer for a payment of a content based fee.
 8. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the content is provided as astreaming and/or download service to the consumers.
 9. The methodaccording to claim 8, wherein least one content provider receivesroyalties based on time of streaming content used by a consumer.
 10. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the content service provided to theconsumers comprises at least one of a telephone, internet and broadcastservice.
 11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the contentcomprises audio content.
 12. The method according to claim 1, whereinthe content comprises text content.
 13. The method according to claim 1,wherein the content comprises audiovisual content.
 14. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising the step of providing a contentaccess client that allows the usage of the content service by theconsumers.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein allowing the consumers toselect content comprises allowing the consumers to select the contentusing the content access client.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein thecontent access client prevents the consumers from requesting unlicensedcontent.
 17. The method of claim 1, wherein directly supplying theselected content to the consumers comprises supplying the contentwithout the network operator having to perform any processing stepsother than the provision of a channel for communication between theconsumer and the content service.
 18. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: sublicensing the supplied content to the one or more networkoperators used by the consumers to obtain the content.
 19. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: allowing the one or more network operatorsto directly charge the consumers without involving the content service.20. The method of claim 1, wherein charging further comprises: assigninga secure identifier to a particular connection set up by a networkoperator to supply content to a consumer, wherein the secure identifieris used by the content service to subsequently charge the networkoperator for the content but does not personally identify the consumerreceiving the content to the content service.
 21. The method of claim 1,wherein at least one network operator does not charge a consumer for thecontent supplied to the consumer.
 22. The method of claim 1, wherein theone or more network operators comprise one or more operators selectedfrom the group comprising a mobile telephone carrier, a wire basedtelephone operator, a television broadcaster, and an internet provider.23. The method of claim 1, wherein the supplied content comprises newsarticles.
 24. The method of claim 1, wherein allowing the consumers toselect content comprises allowing a consumer to select from among one ormore playlists.
 25. The method of claim 1, wherein forwarding a portionof payments received from the one or more network operators comprisespaying royalties to the one or more content providers for consumption ofthe supplied content by the consumers.
 26. The method of claim 1,wherein the content service comprises a personal media system (PMS), andwherein licensing the content from the one or more content providerscomprises establishing one or more license contracts between a PMSservice provider and the one or more content providers.
 27. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the selected content is in one or moremedia formats selected from the group comprising an audio format, avideo format, an image format, a picture format, and a text format. 28.The method of claim 1, wherein allowing the consumers to select contentcomprises receiving a consumer selection from a content access deviceassociated with a particular consumer.
 29. The method of claim 28,wherein the content access device comprises at least one of a mobilephone, personal digital assistant, smartphone, personal computer,television, hi-fi stereo, game console, and/or mobile entertainmentproduct.
 30. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more respectivenetworks comprise one or more networks selected from the groupcomprising a computer network, a telephone network, a mobile telephonenetwork, the internet, a wireless network, and a broadcast televisionnetwork.
 31. The method of claim 1, wherein the payments received fromthe one or more network operators are received in advance of the one ormore network operators receiving payments from the consumers.